Open the Cage
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: He was a beast of darkness and she was an angel of light and what chance did he have when there was another light angel next to her and nothing but darkness to fester with him?
1. 1

**A/N:** Written for the:

Digimon bingo, the non-flash version, #149 - Ophanimon/Cherubimon  
Becoming the Tamer King Challenge, Data Forest task  
Diversity Writing Challenge, b5 - poetry novel  
The 28 Days of Love Challenge, day 23 – write about any Digimon/Digimon shipping

* * *

 **Open the Gates  
** 1.

they're yang and yin, woman and man and angel born on heaven's wings and a demon that's a melted lob of clay from the depths of hell and that's not fair, because there's another angel to stand by the first and what is he but the ugly face that has to hide in the shadows…

they're yang and yin and his only role is to stay tucked away in the shadows and wrestle with the other ugly demons like him so they're all tucked away and she can shine under the sun under the light and she could be a little star in the sky if he stopped holding the others back perhaps or maybe that little star would fall or be drowned out…

they're yang and yin and they should have equal parts to the sphere but they don't and they never will, because there's a third who can stand in the light with her while he holds the shadows, and the shadows are just a small part of the world tucked away

but he wants to step out into the light, her light, as well.


	2. 2

**Open the Cage  
** 2.

everyone has a shadow and his is vast enough to drown an entire continent but he can't oft see hers.

he knows it's there.  
he knows.

it beckons him in his dreams and maybe that's the only time he ever sees; the only reason he ever knows

but he knows it's there.  
he knows.

he knows and he chases after it like a child running after the rainbow for that pot of gold he knows isn't there but he also knows because he's heard those glorious tales and he wants, he wants so badly, he's made it come true by that want alone.

it's the lord of one word, turning a lie into a truth.  
it's the innocence of a child, taking the impossible and making it possible,  
making it true

and he knows it's there.  
he knows.

he also knows that she's light incarnate and he's got a shadow vast enough to drown an entire continent.


	3. 3

**Open the Cage  
** 3.

she's the warm fireplace he comes home to every night,  
the sparkle of sunlight that guides him while he sinks further into the ocean's depths,  
the candlelight when all the lights in the house have gone out,  
the moon in the sky when all else is awash in shadows

and he's the shadows that devour it all:  
the night and the secrets and the treacherous mind that guards its' tongue so tightly it shrivels and chokes –

he can hang her from the ceiling like the most beautiful of chandeliers in his banquet hall and she can cast her light around like a wave of scented candles or a disco ball

but they still can't dance together under that night, because he spreads his shadows below as the canvas for her to paint her light upon

and that's not fair notfairnotfair but it can't be helped; it's the nature of things – their nature – and he's brought them as close as he can manage, within the dark walls of his humble abode where the light shouldn't touch but he's letting it touch anyway because he's starved for it; he wants it, burning his skin until the shadows that are him are washed away even though it'll never happen

because a fish out of water is a fish dead and a fish on a fire is a fish that's a cooked corpse and he's heading there and the knives and skillets are approaching to peel him and gut him and chop him and roast him and he welcomes that because they'll bring a flashbang with them: they'll bring fireworks and maybemaybemaybe it'll be enough to banish the darkness from him –

it is, in the grand finale, after the spluttering failures light up the night sky and leave shadows underneath  
but the moon's gone, then, too.

it's a moonless night when the flames light the sky on the ending  
of their – or perhaps it's only his alone –  
tragic tale.


End file.
